Drawer guide



APT 17 1945. c. A. LlNDBl-:RG ETA; I 373,696

l DRAWER GUIDE Filed July 2s, 1941 furniture generally. ,v

`'Patented Apr. 17, 1945` UNITED. STAT-ES PATENTQOFFICE, jf v aai'zaeeiel i -l v; u

`DRAWER GUIDE Y y Charles A. Lindberg andvRobert W. Skinner,

Rockford, 111'.; C. Edward Lindbergl executor of said Charles'A. Lindberg, deceased l nmii-icatin'iuiyzs, i941', seria1No;4o4,34a

Claims. y(Cl. 457-77) This inventionrelates to a new and improved y drawer guide especially designed and adapted Vfor usey on drum type tables but suitable `for use in connection with ther drawers in home ,and office In most furniture no .provision is ordinarily made to compensate for shrinking or swelling `or the wood under diierent atmospheric conditions and as a result drawers stick or work lia-rd;l it is, therefore, the principal object of our ini/en tion to provide .a drawer guide constructed to avoid this dinculty and enable easy operation of 1 the drawers lat all times regardless of diierence in atmospheric conditions. l -Asa1ient feature of the `drawer guide of` our "invention consists in the. provision of a. sheet metal slide plate attached to the guide stripthat is 3 `fastened to the bottom` of thev drawer and works in the longitudinal T-yslot in the'stationary guide in thefbottom of the drawer compartment,

said plate having opposed longitudinal edge portions for sliding engagement in theerossfportion thetop of a drum type table and l8 is partlnent has acircular bottom 4B andl a substantiallysemi-circular side wall I I. The drawer 8 has a circular bottom I2 and a substantially semi-circularufront wall I3 lstruck on the same radius as ythe side `wall II;l whereby when the drawer is closed there is visible only the'two diametrically opposed parting lines 14,'where the ends of .the front wall I3 meet the ends ofthe side. wall II, the drawer, in other words, giving the appearance thatits front` wall forms a rigid partoithelower ,portiongofthfe table top. The back wall l5 of the drawer is struck on a smaller radius than the `front 'wall I3 and is substantially semi-circular, and is adapted to come into engagement 'with the innerV side of thelwall II of the table when the drawer is closed, as shown in Fig, 2. r`This novel construction oi the drawer, giving much more commodious and truly useful y drawer space, is made feasible only by the drawer of the T-slot for non-'tilting support of the drawer and also having resilient spring `tongue portions on the opposed longitudinal edgefportions thereof to work in the crossfportion of the T-slot, so f as" to maintain light frietional drag which while not enough to interfere with easyoperation of thel drawer is ynevertheless sufcient to steady the drawer so that it does not move too freely and have a feeling oiftting too loosely inj its compartment, thethought being topermit manun facture within Wide tolerances for absolute freedom `from the problem of sticking while neven theless giving a. fine drawer action obtainable heretofore only in high quality Afurniture made carefullyy to closetoleranoes. *Y

The inventiony is illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in'which Figs. 1 and 2 are two vievirsy ofthe yupperportion of a drum type table, the 'dra-wer oiwnich is especially constructed in accordance lwith our invention and equipped with the novel drawer guide of our nvntion;`

Figs. .3 and 4 are a .longitudinal section. and

" transverseksetion through-the drawerguide on a larger scale; n Fig. 5 'is ahorizontal section onthe` line y5--5 of Fig. 3, yshowing .the slide plate in plan view. and L i y Fig. 6 is-a sectionsimilar.toy Fig! 4 but lSmil/ille 'Ir designateS 'substantially diametrically from front to rear relative to ythe drawer. When the drawer. is closed, itcanl be opened easilvtby grasping vthe lower ed'ge portion I8 of thedrawer froneIS, which, as indicated in Fig. 2.l projects downwardly .below the 'bottom wall Ii) ofthe table top structure to thesaine extent as the side wall II. In that way there is no need for a drawer pull or knob, although, of course, one or more may be provided if desired..y The drawerguide IB comprises, inl addition to the guide strip4 l1, a T-slot I9 inY the ,bottom Iii vof the table top structure; and a. slide plate 2I)"fas tened vvto the bottom of the strip I1 and working in the slot. The strip I'I is preferably of wood, andthe same is true of the bottom Il) in which the slot ISis provided. vlf desiredseparate wooden ample, the'bottom Ina'of the table top structure is too thin to permit provision of ythe' Ts1ot there-I in. These s-I'Jripsl canbe'fa'stenedjbymeans of screws, as indicated at 22, orin any other suitable,v

i way tothe botto'rn lila so as to dene a T-slot I9@ therebetween Aabove the bottomr Ina. The strip I1 in veither casefworks with affairly loose t in the narrower lportion 23 df the Tslot,' andthe slide plate 2l) works in the wider portion 24. The

plate 2U is of generally .rectangular form and is fastened b y Imeans of screws 25 tothe bottom of the strip I'I, the screws being arranged in spaced relation along the longitudinal center line of the a drawer for the compartment 9 therebeneath. The comy portions and 3l on opposite sides of the strip 10 for sliding guiding engagement in the wider portion 24 of the T-slot, in addition to the sliding guiding engagement afforded by the full width butt portion 32 of the plate. In other words, the

plate 20 has engagement throughout the full 15 length thereof in the wide portion 24 of the slot I8, so that unit bearing pressure is low under all conditions and the drawer can be opened and closed easily. The spring tongues 28 and 29 are bent. longitudinally to generally V-form, so as 20 to provide elbow portions 33 intermediate the ends thereof for sliding engagement with the bottom surface and free end portions 34 for sliding en gagement with the top surface in the wider por'- tio-n 24 0f the T-slot. The spring tongue portions 25 28 and 29 of the plate 20 are iiattened out to some extent by entry in the slot I9, so that there is a predetermined pressiu'e exerted at the points 33 and 34 ofv s-liding bearing contact, and it will be noticed that the free end portions 34 of the 3b spring tongues are curved, as indicated in Fig. 3, to facilitate entering the same in the slot when the drawer has been removed and is being replaced. The spring tongues 28 and 29 are shown n in leading relation to the butt portion 32 of the 35 plate, but if desired the plate may be reversed end for end in relation to the slide I1. In other words, these tongues may extend rearwardly or forwardly with respect to the drawer and happen l to be Sho-wn extending rearwardly. The spring 40 tongues 28 and 29, it will be noticed further, are of tapered form narrowing toward the free end portions 34. In that way the tongues are assured of having the desired stiffness and also strength. y, v,

When the plate 20 is punched from spring steel4 stock and after forming is properly tempered, the spring tongues willv give the desired spring action lor the life of the piece of furniture.

In operation, it should be clear that there are no wooden parts in this drawer guide which, by

reason of change in atmospheric conditions, can possibly cause the drawer to stick or work hard. The metal plate 20 has suflicient yield in its spring tongue portions .28 and 29 to compensate for any shrinking or swelling that may occur. The ,spring tongues 28 and 29 serve to keep the middle portion 21 of the slide plate in full engagement with the cooperating surfaces in the slot under substantially uniform pressure at all times, so that the drawer will not be too loose nor too tight but will always be slidable freely. The friction drag G0 is enough t0 give the drawer a proper feel and action even though the same may be made with greater clearances than the usual practice dictates, the object being to obtain the fine drawer action usually found only in costlier higher grade furniture, where great care has been exercised in the selection of materials and in the making and tting of the drawer to work easily without much clearance.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of our invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations. 75

-We claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a drawer guide slide plate adapted for use in a guide slot of T shaped cross-section in a guide member, comprising a generally rectangular body portion adapted to be secured along its longitudinal center line to a guide member for sliding engagement in the wider portion of the aforesaid T-shaped guide slot in the cooperating guide member, said plate `being formed on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line so as to provide longitudinally extending bowed spring tongues projecting out of and back into the plane of the body of the plate, whereby to provide a bowed portion intermediate the ends of each of said tongues for smooth sliding engagement with a surface in the slot in which said plate operates, and a supporting end portion on the free end of each tongue for slid able supporting engagement of the end of the tongue on another surface in the slot in spaced parallel relation to the first surface.

2. As an article of manufacture, a drawer guide slide plate adapted for use in a guide slot of T- shaped cross-section in a guide member, comprising a generally rectangular body portion adapted to be secured along its longitudinal center line to a guide member for sliding engagement in the wider portion of the aforesaid T- shaped guide slot in the cooperating guide member, said plate being formed on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line so as to provide longitudinally extending bowed spring tongues projecting out of and back into the plane of the body of the plate, whereby to provide a bowed portion intermediate the ends of each of said tongues for smooth sliding engagement with a surface in the slot in which said plate operates, and a supporting end portion on the free end of each tongue for slidable supporting engagement of the end of the tongue on another surface in the slot in spaced parallel relation to the first surface, that portion of the plate between the tongues being of greater width than the narrower portion of the T-shaped slot.

3. In an article of furniture constructed of wood and having a drawer compartment and a drawer in said compartment, the relative sizes of the compartment and drawer leaving clearances between the two for an easy working fit, a drawer guide comprising coacting wooden and metal means between the drawer and the bottom wall of the compartment for guiding the drawer in its movement to open or closed position and to support the drawer substantially in its normal plane when extended, said means comprising a wooden guide defining a guide slot of T-shaped cross-section in the bottom of said compartment, a wooden guide strip fitting loosely in the narrow portion of the slot for free reciprocation relative to the compartment bottom and secured to the drawer bottom, and a metal slide plate fastened at the rear end of the guide strip on the bottom thereof and slidable freely in the wider portion of the T-slot, said plate having its opposed longitudinal edge portions formed so as to provide longitudinally extending bowed spring tongues projecting out of andback into the plane of the body of the plate, whereby to provide a bowed portion intermediate the ends of each of said tongues for smooth sliding engagement with the bottom surface in the wider portion of the slot, and a supporting end portion on the free end 0f each ton-gue for slidable supporting enn gagement of the end portion of the tongue on the upper surface in the wider portion of the slot.

4.` In an artcleof furniture constructed of wood and having a drawer compartment and a drawer in said compartment, the relative sizes of the compartment and drawer leaving clearances between thetwo for an 'easy working t, a drawer n guide comprising coacting wooden and metal means between the drawer and the bottom wall of the compartment for guiding the drawer in its movement to open or closed position and to support the drawer substantially in its normal plane when extended,y saidv means comprising a woodenv guide defining a guideslot of T-shaped cross-section in the bottom of said compartment, a wooden guide strip fitting loosely in the narrow portion of theslot for free reciprocation relative ginal edge portions of the plate next to the tongues with the upper surface in the wider por- A tion of the slot.-

5. In an article of furniture constructed of wood and having a drawer compartment vand a drawer' in said compartment, the relative sizesof the compartmentand drawer leaving clearances between the two fortanv easy working fit, a drawer' guide comprising coacting wooden rand metal means between thedrawer and the bottom wall of the compartment for guiding the drawer in to the compartment bottom and secured to the y drawer bottom, and a metal slide plate fastened at the rear end of the guide strip on the bottom kthereof and slidable' freely inthe wider portion of the T-s1ot,said plate having` its opposed longitudinal edge'portions formed so as to provide longitudinally extending bowed spring tongues projecting out of and back into the plane of the bodyr of the plate, whereby to .provide a bowedv portion intermediate. the ends of each of said tongues for smooth'sliding engagement with the bottom surface in the wider portion of the slot, and a ysupporting endportion on the free end of each tonguev for slidable supporting engagement of the Aend portion of the tongue on the upper surface in the-wider portion of the slot,

that portion of the plate between the tongues being of greater width than the narrower portion I of the T-shaped slot for abutment of themarits movement to open or closed position and to support the drawer substantially in its normal plane when extended, said means comprising a wooden guide'defining a guide slot of T-shaped cross-sectionin the bottom of said compartment, a wooden gude'strip fitting loosely-in the narrow portion of the slot for free reciprocation relative to the compartment bottom with freedom for limited lateral and vertical movement 'and secured to the drawer bottom, and a metal slide platefas-I tened at the rear end of the guide strip on the bottom thereof and slidable freely in the' wider portion of the T-slot with freedom for limited lateral movement and spring restrained vertical 

